5 Active Movement Meditations Dancers And Exercise Enthusiasts

Active Movement Meditation 1: Meditative Dance

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Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and Daoists all use various forms of dance-meditations.

Let’s take a look at each of them.

Active Movement Meditation 2. Hindu Dance Meditation

As with many spiritual practices, dance meditation finds its roots in Hinduism.

Hindus believe that the entire universe is the manifestation of the Supreme Dancer Nataraja (1).

Nataraja performs the Ananada Tandava, the dance through which the universe is created, maintained, and dissolved (1).

Dance is so important to Hinduism that all Hindu gods have their own style of dance.

There are 23 celestial Apsaras—beings who dance to please the gods and who express the supreme truths via their movements.

In temples throughout India, and particularly in East and South India, spiritual dance used to be a part of a sacred ritual, where devadasi’s (girls dedicated to worship) worshipped the divine through a complex system of gestures and mimes.

This sacred ritual evolved to become the South Indian Classical Dance (2), which is still practiced today.

Active Movement Meditation 3. Christian Dance Meditation Techniques

Modern Christianity uses a form of spiritual dance meditation. This is done to bring us closer to God.

Though some verses of the bible describe dance as a sin (3), Christians have started using dance more commonly over the past few decades.

Beginning in the latter half of the 20th Century with the modernisation of Christianity, churches have used music and dance as a means of worship (4).

Judaism also involves a sacred dance meditation: the messianic dance or Davidic dance (5) (in reference to King David, who is said to have danced before the Ark of the Covenant).

Active Movement Meditation 4. Buddhist Dance Mediation Techniques

The three main types of Buddhist dance meditation are the butterfly dance, the cymbal dance, and the T’aju (eight-fold path dance).

Butterfly Dance (Nabichum)

The Nabichum, or “butterfly dance”, is a Korean Buddhist dance. It’s called the Butterfly dance because of the costume–a white robes (jangsam) with drapes on the arm and a hat (gokkal) that make it look like a butterfly costume. The choreography also looks like the movements of a butterly.

Cymbal Dance (Para Ch’um)

The Cymbal dance is one of the most important of all Buddhist dances. It is like a carnival festival with drums, gongs and cymbals. The dancers hold the cymbals and use them as part of the dance.

The sound of the cymbals is said to drive away worldly desires.

T’aju (Eight-Fold Path Dance)

The T’aju represents the Eight-Fold Path, the Buddhist path leading to enlightenment.

“In the Dance of the Eightfold Path (T’aju), an octagonal box with inscriptions on each side—representing the eightfold way of the Buddha— is placed on the ground between two dancers. Each holds a long, thin stick, and gently taps the top of the box as he moves around it.”

Active Movement Meditation 5. Other spiritual dance meditations

As well as the religious dance meditations above, there are many countries that have popular dance meditations.

In Japan, for instance, one very popular type of exercise is Katsugen Undo (regenerating exercise) (7). Katsugen Undo is a wonderful exercise in which you give up your conscious control of your body and allow your body to heal itself.

In China, similar exercises called Zifagong, Re-do and Zi Ran Qigong are also popular.

Iran and Turkey use similar unconscious movement and spiritual dancing meditation exercises. The Mevlevi Dervish, for instance, is a spontaneous type of movement that, like Katsugen Undo, involves giving up control of the body.

These Sufi movements are said to have been created when Rumi was walking through a marketplace one day. He heard the goldbeaters hammering rhythmically away and in a state of bliss he spontaneously broke into dance, spinning in a circle.

More Types Of Active Movement Meditation

As well as practicing these specific dynamic meditation techniques, you can also meditate while doing traditional exercise.

Whether you’re doing yoga, tai chi, spiritual dance, going for a run or walk, or performing any other safe exercise, you can quickly convert that exercise into a meditation technique.

There’s just one caveat: Only ever meditate when performing exercises that cannot possibly lead to serious injury.

Obvious example: Running through a field? Check. Running next to a busy road? Scratch.

In fact, if you do enjoy running you should definitely try running meditation. Science shows that running while meditating is one of the very best things you can do for your mind and body.

Just always make sure your movement meditations are safe.

When you meditate you often forget where you are and become what you’re doing. That can potentially lead you to being unaware of your surroundings, which could cause an accident. So always, always be safe, and when in doubt check with a professional before continuing.

Making traditional exercise meditative

There are a few things you need to know when you’re using traditional exercises as meditation.

I highly recommend trying Zen Walking first because it will train your mind to be mindful while exercising.

For starters when you meditate on an exercise you are not burning calories. You’re not losing weight. You’re not getting in shape. You do not have an end destination. When you’re meditating on an exercise you are the exercise. Your mind is one with your body and your body is the exercise.

When running be the running. Don’t be the person trying to drag their body down the road to burn some calories so you can fit into those jeans. Make it more divine than that. Make your mind the running. Perform the exercise mindfully. Consciously lift your foot, move it forward, plant it carefully down on to the ground, transfer your weight onto the other foot and repeat. That’s the entire process of running. That’s the process your mind should pass through with each and every step you take.

When dancing, don’t try to look sexy. That’s just inhibition (and inhibition is not sexy). Liberate yourself. Connect with the energy inside your body. Make your mind that energy. Be it. That’s divine dancing. That’s what the devadasi’s in the sacred temples of India do. That’s what’s best for you when you practice spiritual dancing.

The Benefits Of Meditating While Exercising

There are lots of benefits of turning traditional exercise into meditation

1. It makes exercise more enjoyable

2. Trains the mind as well as the body

3. Meditation increases stamina

4. You will be less prone to injury because you are focusing more

Best exercises to use as movement meditations:

Movement Meditations VS Seated Meditations

But if you’re expecting seated meditation to perform some sort of miracle in your life, you will probably end up disappointed, unless you balance it out with active movement meditations or dance meditations.

Listen:

Many people think meditation is a cure-all. They turn to meditation because it is a quick and relatively easy way to solve a lot of health problems, among them being anxiety, depression, and stress.

No question mindfulness and meditation are attractive choices for the individual looking to boost their health. But meditation is not everything. And seated meditation postures are most definitely not everything. In fact, they can be harmful.

The average person spends 7.7 hours every day sitting down.

That is staggering amount of time. It adds up to 2810 hours a year sitting.

This sedentary lifestyle has serious health implications.

The American Medical Association states that sitting for extended periods of time can have serious health implications. And a series of scientific studies has shown that sitting down for too long can cause many serious illnesses.

Paul Harrison

Paul Harrison is a meditation teacher, author and journalist based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Paul has helped thousands of people to discover their true potential. Don’t miss Paul’s inspirational and enlightening book: Your Best Meditation

Paul M Harrison. Meditation Teacher. Hamilton Ontario

Paul M Harrison is an author and meditation teacher in Hamilton Ontario Canada.

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